Hanley-Corboy brought her mastery of the building regulations applicable to the project, former chancellor of UL, Seán Donlon, told The Irish Times. She had immense experience of the area with the development company Portland Estates, which she had set up with her first husband, Seán Hanley, formerly a civil engineer with Limerick Corporation. The company, which they set up in 1964, developed many housing estates and other general engineering works in the Limerick region.
When her husband, Seán Hanley, died suddenly in 1973, she took over as managing director of Portland Estates, at a time of economic crisis in the State, which was the result of the oil crisis that followed the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur war. When Hanley-Corboy went to the banks for support, she was met scepticism.
She was the CIF representative on the Central Review Committee, which advises the Government on development issues, and was, in turn, appointed to the Building Advisory Board, the Enterprise Trust, the National and Economic Forum and the National Roads Authority. In 1994 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Economic Science by UL.